The Red Velvet Lawyer

Plaintiff Awarded $2.9 Million:  Post-Trail Motions and Appeal Certain Charles Sartran of the Energy & the Law blog discusses what is being characterized as the "first fracking verdict in U.S. History."   Background:   [A] Texas jury awarded $2.9 million to landowners in a case involving alleged hydrocarbon exposure due to hydraulic fracturing operations. Here is the jury verdict . The Parrs sued Aruba Petroleum, alleging that drilling and frac[k]ing at Aruba’s 22 wells located within two miles of the Parr’s 40-acre property in Wise County was making them sick. They alleged a wide array of health issues, including nose bleeds, irregular heartbeat, muscle spasms, and open sores, all of which were allegedly caused by hazardous gases and airborne chemicals emanating from Aruba’s well sites. Outcome: The case proceeded to the jury only on the nuisance claim. The award, for intentionally creating a private nuisance, comprised $275,000 for loss in propert...

Using ADR to Compensate Victims of Environmental Catastrophes In my Environmental Dispute Resolution course, I devote one class to a discussion of the claims facilities used in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the BP Gulf Coast oil spill disaster.  The facilities attempted to handle the inevitable claims arising from these traumatic events in an organized way that allowed expeditious handling of the claims outside of litigation.  Both adopted a form of arbitration.   If well designed, these facilities could also enhance procedural justice for claimants --  voice, careful consideration of the facts by the neutral, impartiality by the neutral, and respectful and dignified treatment of claimants. Updating the Story An  article  in The New York Times today updates the status of the Gulf Coast claims facility.     The Times describes the spill this way: The oil rig fire and the nearly unstoppable fountain of o...

Some Balance to the Gloom and Doom Stories Brian Leiter, ABA Top 100 Blawger, has shared a conversation among graduates of lower tiered schools here . The conversation started with this question: cheapbrass (Apr 18, 2014 - 2:53 pm) If you are a tier 2 or below grad...and are somewhat successful ($100k+ salary) post here. how far out of school you are and your firm size, or if you are a solo, partner, or associate. Me first: Tier 3, 10+ years out, firm size 5-10, forever associate. The comments, largely stories of success, mirror the stories I hear from most of the alumni of ASL.   If you have your own stories of success, feel free to post them in the comments to this blog.   

Trust: Breach and Repair The Nature of Trust Three elements contribute to the level of trust one has for another: The individual’s chronic disposition towards trusting others; Situational parameters; and The history of their relationship.   Two general categories of trust exist: Calculus-based trust : Grounded in the fear of punishment for violating trust and in the rewards to be derived from preserving it. Identification-based trust :   Based on the identification with the other person’s desires, goals, and intentions.   It exists because the parties can effectively understand and appreciate one another’s wants.   Rebuilding Trust : Re-establishing trust, once breached, is very difficult.    “In conflict, trust is broken, cruel words are spoken, friendships dissolve, love turns to hate, and hate into revenge.”  “Trust is rebuilt not by focusing on what the other person did or did not do, but on improving one’s own beh...

Protect Experiential Learning in Law School -- Let the Market Solve the Problems Two well-respected legal scholars, who also write frequently about how to teach law, offered an op-ed piece in The New York Times , entitled: Don't Skip on Legal Training .  Erwin Chermerinsky and Carrie Menkel-Meadow open the conversation by providing this context: Legal education, like all education, can certainly be improved, but the widely made claims of a “crisis” are exaggerated and do not reflect the contributions legal education makes to achieving justice and well-being for many in the world. In January, an American Bar Association Task Force on the Future of Legal Education declared that it had rushed to release its report because “the urgency of the problem and the serious threats to public confidence demanded rapid action.” This crisis mentality is not only unfounded, but is also creating pressure for reforms that would make legal education worse, not better. The ...

Then, Living with Purpose Tom Asaker, who blogs on business and marketing, takes a  look at the difference between finding your purpose and creating it. He says: [P]urpose isn't discovered. It's created. It isn't a carefully considered and crafted image. It's a bold statement. A way of believing and behaving that grows and evolves and enhances people's lives. Purpose isn't something we pull out of our brands. It's something we passionately build into them. Out of our experiences and values.                             * * * Purpose means progress. It's movement towards a more ethical and meaningful way of being. Purpose creates a new world. I teach at a purpose-driven school.  We exist to create opportunities for Appalachians who are often the first member in their immediate families to attend college or professional school.  On to that purpose, we have layered  our commitm...

Honoring Her with Love and Purpose I should have had this epiphany some time ago.  But, instead, it came to me last night as I was dropping off to sleep. I turn 60 years old this summer.  My mom, JoAnn Drinkwater Young, died at the age of 61 in 1997.  When she was my age, she was already carrying the colon cancer that would kill her. Shortly after her death, I filled a glass bowl full of translucent blue glass marbles.  Each marble represented a week in my life should I only live to be 61.  I intended it to remind me to live my life joyfully, lovingly, and with purpose.   On a regular basis, I have thrown a handful of marbles into my garden representing the lapse of those weeks.  Until this morning, I had about 120 marbles left in that bowl.  Just now, I threw all but one of the remaining marbles into my colorful spring garden.  The last one I put in my "treasure box."  Every week I live beyond age 61 is a gift, in m...

40,000   Page Views Friends, family, and colleagues: Despite neglecting, this past month, my commitment to blog daily for a year, my blog has reached another milestone.  Some time today, page views of my blog topped 40,000.  The Red Velvet Lawyer celebrated its first birthday in mid-March. It has been a great learning experience. It has given back to me a voice I had as a columnist. It keeps me in a conversation with colleagues, students, and alumni. I appreciate your ongoing support and interest. Love you all, and thanks so very much for your support!

Tell a Story. Start a Conversation. At the last retreat of women entrepreneurs enjoying the coaching lessons of Christine Kane in her Gold Mastermind program, we -- yet again --  focused on identifying our ideal client and then practiced our elevator speech designed to draw that ideal client to our businesses.   So this discussion by blogger Mark Beese, at Attorney at Work , caught my eye. He reports on several presentations given at the recent conference of legal marketing professionals. Niche marketing. Think about the last time someone asked, “So, what do you do?” at a networking event. What did you say? “I’m a [fill-in-the-blank] lawyer” or “I’m an attorney at [X] firm”? Do you think you made a lasting, positive first impression? Kevin McMurdo , Principal of McMurdo Consulting and former CMO of Perkins Coie, led a lively discussion on teaching lawyers to focus on a specific niche market where they have a specific value proposition. He used the “e...

Positioning your Law Firm  as an Expert Blogger Mark Beese, at Attorney at Work , reports on several presentations given at the recent conference of legal marketing professionals.  This story about "valuable free content" offered to energy law clients caught my eye.   Paul Grabowski , CMO of Bracewell Guiliani, gave a behind-the-scenes tour of what it takes to produce an award-winning mobile app. Targeting energy companies, Bracewell’s free “ShalePlay” app provides a stream of news, analysis and legal commentary on the hydraulic fracturing industry segmented by geographic shale “plays” throughout the U.S.   The process of creating the app took 14 months, and was a cross-disciplinary collaborative effort of in-house staff, attorneys and outside designers that required strong project management and a good budget. More than 10 software tools were involved in development, design and usage metrics.   Grabowski’s lessons learned? ...